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Friday, 10 April 2015

The novels and short stories of Edith Wharton are still on the reading lists of the more progressive women's colleges in the United States, and some of them are even read from time to time. However, my interest in Mrs Wharton is based on her life-long passion for garden design on the grand scale and on her excellent book, "Italian Villas and their Gardens" which was published in 1904 and is scarce in its original edition. As a substitute or additional read, I can recommend Edith Wharton's Italian Gardens by Vivian Russell, who visited and photographed the surviving gardens described by Mrs Wharton.

Edith Wharton as an earnest young woman

Although Mrs Wharton (1862-1937) is often tarted up by English Literature departments as something of a rebel, her birth in 1862 into the richest of the rich class of "Old New York" made possible not only her fictional writings, with their insider's view of America's privileged classes, but, much more importantly to me, made it natural that she would travel extensively in Europe and allowed her to create a wonderful house and garden, "The Mount", near Lenox, Massachusetts, and to recreate a second one, "Le Pavilion Colombe", at Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt. These houses and estates were created according to the principles elaborated in her book The Decoration of Houses (1897), co-authored by Ogden Codman, and drew heavily upon her observations of the villas and gardens of Tuscany, especially of the Medicean villas. She wrote in Italian Villas and their Gardens that gardens should be divided into rooms and planned in concert with the house and the natural landscape, a Classical concept revived in Renaissance times.

"The Mount", Edith Wharton's house and garden at Lenox, Mass.

Edith Wharton's parents were George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander, and the saying "keeping up with the Jones" is said to refer to her family. After the end of the Civil War, her family traveled extensively in Europe. From 1866 to 1872, the Jones family visited France, Italy, Germany and Spain. During these travels, Edith became fluent in French, German and Italian. When at home in the United States, the Joneses spent their winters in their New York mansion and their summers in their Newport "cottage". In 1885, at age 23, Edith Jones married Edward (Teddy) Robbins Wharton, who was 12 years her senior. Wharton was from a well-established Boston family, and was a sportsman and a gentleman of the same social class, and shared her love of travel. Unfortunately, the marriage began to deteriorate, in part due to Teddy Wharton's severe depression, and Mrs Wharton eventually moved permanently to France. During World War I, she remained in her Paris apartment and was an ardent and effective supporter of the French war effort.

Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Howard Sturgis

Edith Wharton was an indefatigable motorist and was driven throughout Europe by her chauffeur Charles Cook in amazing, usually huge, cars that were often one of a kind. Her tours resulted in some excellent travel writing, including her book Italian Backgrounds and of course, Italian Villas and their Gardens. One of her favorite Tuscan gardens is also a favorite of mine, namely Villa Gamberaia, located on the outskirts of the village of Settignano near Florence. Bernard Berenson was another Florentine friend of Mrs Wharton and his Villa I Tatti is about a mile away from Villa Gamberaia. Villa I Tatti belongs to Harvard University and is not easily visited, but Villa Gamberaia is still in private hands and one can not only visit the gardens but it is possible to stay in one of the guest houses within the garden.

The garden of Villa Gamberaia viewed from the villa

Edith Wharton passed away on 11 August, 1937 at Le Pavillon Colombe, her 18 C house on Rue de Montmorency in Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt. She was comforted by her friend Mrs Royall Tyler, a native of Florence, born Elisina Palamidessi de Castelvecchio (sometimes styled "Contessa" - including by herself - but, although her mother held that title, it was not hereditary and she had no right to it). She was the wife of a famous Bostonian historian educated partly at Harrow and Oxford, with extensive European connections. My friend Paul Chipchase knew their son, William Royall Tyler, himself an eminent American abroad, and passed on to me many interesting reminiscences of Mrs Wharton.

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Pienza, the pearl of the Val d'Orcia, is one of my favorite towns and from 1st to 10th May, 2015, Pienza will look more beautiful than ever. During that period there will be even more things to do in Pienza and the Val d'Orcia with this year's 30th edition of "Pienza e i fiori", the flower and plant festival with the theme: "Cloisters and gardens in bloom". The cloisters and courtyards of the best of the Renaissance palaces (Palazzo Piccolomini, Palazzo Borgia and Ammannati) and some of the piazzas of Pienza will be decorated in the style of a great renaissance festival, festooned in laurel wreaths and bouquets of fruit (inspired by Renaissance paintings), box shrubs, climbing roses and many other flowers in the most beautiful areas of the town.

"Pienza e i fiori", the flower and plant festival in Pienza

The flower market, the final event, will take place in the streets of the old town and the gardens in Piazza Dante Alighieri, on Saturday and Sunday 9th & 10th May 2015. You can buy both in plants and flowers of all kinds, including everything you need for gardening and for cultivation. But for visitors, the pleasure is strolling through the streets and squares.

Courtyard of the Palazzo Piccolomini decorated in classic garden stlle.

In addition, there will be a shuttle bus providing visits to the historic gardens of the Val d'Orcia including the wonderful architecture of the gardens of Palazzo Piccolomini,the Leonini Garden in San Quirico d'Orcia, the famous garden of Villa La Foce, the life's work of Iris Origo, and finally the elegant garden of Palazzo Massaini where, at the conclusion of the visit, you can enjoy a free taste of the food and wine produced on the farm owned by Bottega Verde.

For garden nuts (and all other lovers of beauty) who will be staying in or visiting Florence, don't forget to pay a visit to the exquisite gardens of Villa Gamberaia nearby in Settignano.

Podere Tegline offers four apartments that can also be rented in combinations of two or three apartments or the entire farm house. There are doors that can be unlocked to connect the apartments. The apartments sleep from 2 to 4 persons, and the farm house as a whole sleeps up to 11 persons. Each apartment has a fully equipped kitchen and modern bathrooms. Each apartment also has its own secluded gazebo for relaxation and outdoor dining.

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About Me

I began academic life as a biologist with an intense interest in anatomy. Through my skill as a scientific illustrator, I moved more and more towards the study of art history and finally of all aspects of the history of art and architecture in Tuscany and Umbria. This was the 'eureka moment' - history became my passion! At the University of Zurich, I specialised in this field and have continued to do so ever since. Since joining ammonet InfoTech as a content researcher, I have had the opportunity to present condensed summaries of many aspects of my field to the internet public along with articles on interesting aspects of life in Tuscany and Umbria.